


Roomates

by Fenrath_Shalador



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentions of Suicide, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-20
Updated: 2017-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-23 16:10:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8333986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fenrath_Shalador/pseuds/Fenrath_Shalador
Summary: Dave Strider and Eridan Ampora make unexpected friends. But, for two people notorious for ruining their friendships, can they even make it work?





	1. Unexpected Visitor

Your name is Dave Strider, professional cool guy. At least, that’s what it says on your totally ironic business cards.

You're currently lying on your bed, listening to some sweet tunes. You've got the volume turned up as high as possible without being uncomfortable, so you're quite surprised when you faintly hear someone banging on the door of your apartment and shouting your name.

_ Must be real desperate to get in, _ you think as you take off your headphones and amble over to the door.  You pass Bro’s room on the way, you haven't been in there for about three years now, ever since he went to live with that English guy.

You can hear the person outside quite clearly now: “DAVVE STRIDER, YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A WWORTHLESS HUMAN! OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOWW, OR SO HELP ME I WWILL BREAK IT DOWWN!” Huh, you think they might be a little upset. it’s not a voice you recognize, though, so you take your time in opening the door and… no, HELL NO!

“Davve, I need…” Eridan starts, but you slam the door in his face before he can continue.

The banging and yelling resumes as you place your back to the door, at least he's not very strong. After only a few seconds, the banging stops and you feel Eridan slump against the door.

You can just barely hear his voice through the wood, “C’mon, Davve, just one night,” his voice sounds quite hoarse, “I’ll be gone in the mornin.”

You crack open the door, expecting him to force his way in, “Just one night?”

“Just the one, I’ll be gone before you know it.” He stands up from the floor.

“Promise not to mess with anything?” You might regret this.

“I promise,” hope glimmers in his eyes.

Fuck, you're totally going to regret this, but, “Then come in, I guess.” You swing the door open and step aside.

Eridan enters your apartment slowly, as if afraid you might force him outside at any second. Now that you can see him clearly, you notice that his clothes are old, dirty and frayed, as if he hadn't had anything else to wear for weeks, or even months. He turns to face you, and you can see that his face is covered in grime and there are massive dark circles under his eyes.  _ God damn, what has this guy been through? _ You quickly push that thought out of your head, you've never cared about this guy and one night isn't going to make a difference. His weird Troll life is none of your concern.

You keep your poker face on as you look back at him, a skill you have perfected over the years. “You can sleep on the couch and the fridge is open,” you explain, “just don't touch my stuff.”

“And wwhat do you consider  **your** stuff?” he's got that indignant tone and posture you've heard so much about.

“Everything,” you reply as you push past him back to your room. You want to limit your exposure to this douche as much as possible.

* * *

 

Several hours later you leave your room, having gotten absolutely nothing done. You can just see the top of Eridan’s head on the couch, he’s watching some kind of nature thing on your TV. You briefly consider telling him off for that, but decide against it. This guy seems to have had it rough for a while, so just letting him take it easy for a bit seems like the best you can do right now.

You walk over to the couch and look down at Eridan. He’s wrapped himself in a blanket from somewhere, you’re not sure how he got it as the only blankets in the apartment are in your room as far as you know. He seems to be completely engrossed by the show, it seems to be about sharks, and doesn’t realize you’re there.

You give a little rap on the head, not enough to hurt, and he jerks away staring wildly at you. Okay, didn’t expect that. You raise a hand holding your phone, “You wanna get something to eat?”

The troll is silent for a moment, staring at you as if he thinks it’s a trap. Eventually he relaxes a little, “sure…” He goes back to watching the show, curled up smaller than before.

You order a couple pizzas and when they come you leave one next to Eridan and take the other to your room. You keep telling yourself that he’s fine, it’s not important, he’ll be gone tomorrow. But, you can’t help but wonder as you lay down to sleep, how did he get like this?

You dream of darkness, suffocation, nothing. There’s no way out, you can’t tell if your dead or alive, you hear a distant heartbeat. Yours, or someone else's? Even the void seems to reject your presence, until there is nothing left but the endless march of time.  
You’re suddenly woken up by the awful sound mixture of a horrendous cough, and vomiting.


	2. The Hospital

You take a moment to steady yourself, it was just a dream, nothing more, just a dream. It works mildly well. When you’re calm enough to function normally, you begin to dress in the dark. Your eyes are more sensitive to light than most people’s, one reason why you wear shades. The other is that they make you look like a freak.

You carefully step over to the bathroom, there’s a light shining from under the door, but no sounds are coming out. You give the door a quick knock and enter, you aren’t surprised by what you see.

Eridan is kneeling in front of the toilet, his blanket drawn tight around himself. You can see him shivering and it’s enough to put you on edge.

You crouch next to him and put an arm around his shoulders, “Hey,” you don’t really have anything else to say. You take a quick look at the toilet, yep, disgusting. Eridan turns to you as you flush his sick away. His teeth are clenched tightly and sweat is pouring down his forehead.

“Come on, let’s get you somewhere…” you falter as you notice a violet liquid trickling from Eridan’s nose and mouth. You’re pretty sure you remember being told that trolls have different blood colors. “Eridan,” you’re not sure how to ask this, “what’s your blood color?”

He frowns and brings a hand up to his face. His eyes widen as he sees the violet stuff coming from his face. He suddenly gives a violent jerk and begins coughing, more blood coming from his mouth.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,” you begin to panic as you see what you can only describe as Eridan coughing his guts up. It takes a while for you to forcibly calm down, and when you do Eridan is lying on the floor, shivering. “Okay, okay, we need to,” you drag him to his feet, “we need to get you to a hospital.”

The two of you shuffle out of your apartment and to the ground floor. It takes you a while to reach your car, but you eventually do after another horrendous coughing fit from Eridan.

He slumps in the seat next to you as you start up the car, “‘M sorry,” you can barely hear his hoarse mutter. “‘M a fuckin’ mess,” he slumps even farther, “I can leavve noww, if you wwant.”

“No way,” you reply as you head towards the hospital, “I wouldn't leave anyone alone in your condition.” He doesn't respond, just sits there staring into the distance.

You don't know how long it took to get to the hospital, you're just glad it's still open. You're pretty sure it's a thing that hospital's need to remain open all day. You've never really had to go to one at any odd times since Dirk left, and you try not to think about those times.

The receptionist is a kindly troll lady who calmly listens as you explain the problem, hands Eridan a surgical mask, and tells you to wait. You've never been a big fan of waiting. At least this time you have a good reason: there's literally no one else there. You think they just like making people suffer.

Eventually, the two of you are shown into a small doctor's office. The doctor is another troll, which you guess makes sense but you're don't really care about right now. He tells Eridan to sit and begins prodding at him with various instruments. Through it all, you notice that he is exceedingly polite and gentle. You vaguely remember something about a caste system, when Rose forced you to listen to a lecture on trolls. You never professed anything even close to an interest in trolls, which brings up a rather important point that's been bugging you: why the fuck are you so concerned right now!?

You realize the doctor is talking just in time to catch the last bit of whatever he's saying, “Wait, he's going to be staying here?”

The doctor turns to you, “Er, yes sir,” he looks at a clipboard in his hand, “while not life threatening, this particular disease can be quite serious, so Mr. Ampora will have to stay here a few weeks.” That sounded just fine. He hands you a sheaf of papers, “Would you kindly fill these out, and we'll call you when he's better.”

You consider putting down someone else's phone number, but decide that that would be a terrible idea. You wonder if you could dump him off on someone else when he's better, maybe John, he likes to help hopeless losers.

You fill out the paperwork and leave as fast as you can, barely saying a goodbye to Eridan. Once you get back in your apartment, you slump against the front door. Don't have to worry about this for at least a month, life is back to normal, for now.

Looking back on it, you can’t even remember that time. As if nothing important actually happened, wait, that is what happened.

* * *

You lay on the couch for the third day in a row, bored out of your mind. Work has been pretty much the same lately, just nothing to really engage you. You heave, perhaps, the world’s largest sigh ever. Should call Guinness World Records for that amazing achievement, too bad you’re too bored to do anything that requires effort.

The phone rings quite suddenly, and you flop off the couch onto the floor, graceful as a fucking brick. You leap to your feet, maintaining your cool the whole time. You have no reason to keep cool, but you’ve been doing it so long that it’s just instinct now.

You pick up the phone, and an almost disgustingly cheerful voice greets you, “Hello! Is this Dave Strider?”

“Yo,” what could this possibly be about?

“We’re just calling to inform you that Eridan Ampora has made a complete recovery and is available for you to pick him up right away.” The lady informs you… wait WHAT!

You think quickly, trying to get out of this, “Uh, I have, like, no room for him, here, in my apartment.” Smooth as goddamn sandpaper.

“Just a moment,” the phone goes silent for a few seconds, then a very different voice speaks up, “Davve Strider, I know you havve another room there, so pick me up right fuckin’ noww or I wwill force my wway in.”

“Sure,” you have no idea how to handle an angry troll, “look, can’t you like, go literally anywhere else?”

“No,” his voice is so quiet you can barely hear it.

“What?” you don’t like where this is going.”

“I don’t havve anywwhere else to go,” he’s talking really quietly, like he doesn’t want anyone hear, “I don’t havve any money, or friends, or anything.”

You take a good, long think on that. He probably has no other choice, why else would he come to you? You could still leave him on his own, but…

“Davve?” you take a deep sigh.

“I’ll be over in a few minutes, and we can get you set up in Bro’s old room.” You hang up before you can hear Eridan’s response. You really don’t want to regret this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter, finally! Now I can get into the stuff that I really want to write. But, if you have suggestions for something you want to see, please tell me!
> 
> Also, for the sake of myself, Dave lives in Chicago. This is because I have absolutely no idea what texas is like, so this just makes things easier.
> 
> Enjoy this attempt at whatever I want this to be! I'm doing my best.


	3. A Dire Warning

The morning after you pick up Eridan, you enter your Bro’s room for the first time in who knows how long. You stand in the door, unable to enter. You’re not sure why, it's just a blank room. There’s only an old bed and a desk, nothing important. The walls are empty, nothing on the floor or ceiling, it's just an empty room. So why can’t you go in?

Eridan interrupts your thoughts, “Excuse me, are you just goin’ to stand there all day, or are you goin’ to movve?!” His voice has what you can only describe as an odd British accent. Although, you're pretty sure trolls all come from the same place.

“Geez, Eridan, give me a sec,” you reply “I'm just thinking about how to make this room look gay as fuck.” Well, you are now.

“I don't knoww wwhat that means and I don't care,” he shoves you aside and marches in with the air of a king entering his throne room, “I'm gonna make this room look howw I wwant it to look, not you.” He slams the door in your face.

The door reopens less than a minute later, and Eridan edges around you. “If you need anything, I’ll be in here, m’lord.” you tell him as you go to your room, a giant grin on your face. He flips you off, and you get the feeling that this might not be so bad.

* * *

You get the message a few days later. You're in your room, looking up stuff that Eridan wants for his room. You've managed to cross off about half of it, you have no idea why anyone would want 50 fake shitty wands. You cross off “Life Sized statue of the Empress” without even looking for it, cause that's just stupid. You are interrupted from weird troll shit by a soft ping, it seems someone realizes that you still exist, cool.

tentacleTherapist [TT]  began pestering  turntechGodhead [TG] 

TT: I have been informed from a reliable source that one Eridan Ampora has taken up residence in your apartment.

TT: Is this true?

TG: filthy lies

TG: you should get this source checked out I would never sink so low

TT: So how is he?

TG: he's cool

TG: it was a little rough at first, but things are looking pretty good

TG: how'd you find out?

TT: Kanaya told me.

TT: It seems that Eridan told one of his friends and they simply could not keep it a secret.

TG: wait, so he actually has legit friends?

TG: that's news to me

TT: Hmm…

TG: hmm?

TG: is that a good hmm or a bad hmm?

TG: you’re not gonna psychoanalyze me again, are you?

TT: No, I have given up analyzing people at the behest of my girlfriend. I am merely wondering how to broach this rather touchy subject.

TG: just come right out and say it Rose.

TG: nothing much can get me rustled, that’s for sure.

TT: All right then, I have been told that Eridan Ampora is a murderer.

TG: huh…

TT: Is that all you have to say on the matter?

TT: I would have expected this to have a much more profound effect.

TG: yeah but, isn’t murder, like, par for the course for trolls?

TT: For the highbloods, yes, but only against other trolls.

TT: Eridan has murdered humans.

TG: no

TG: I refuse to believe that.

TT: There is a fair bit of compelling evidence against him.

TG: bullshit

TG: Eridans a goddamn nerd

TG: he wants Harry Potter bedsheets for fucks sake

TT: Dave, please, just listen.

TT: Eridan has been linked to several deaths in the past few years.

TT: He would stay with them for a while, then one day he would disappear, and whoever he was staying with would end up dead a few days later.

TG: …

TT: Dave?

TG: it's not him

TT: What?

TG: look, you haven't met the guy

TG: I have and I'm telling you he couldn't hurt a fly even if he wanted to

TT: Dave, please take this seriously.

TG: I am

TT: Then just keep this in mind: highblood trolls are notorious for being incredibly violent without someone to calm them down.

TT: Eridan may seem fine now, but he's bound to snap one of these days.

TT: I don't want you to die.

TG: Rose, what?

TT I know it may seem like no one cares about you, but I do.

TT: You're family, and family need to take care of each other.

TT: So please, be careful. Keep an eye on Eridan, and if anything suspicious happens, tell someone. Please.

TG: okay

TG: I'll keep an eye on him

TT: Thank you.

TG: course he's gonna have a hard time catching me unawares

TT: Because you are the “Best goddamn urban ninja around?”

TG: you’re goddamn right

TG: see ya later Rose

TT: Stay safe, Dave.

tentacleTherapist [TT]  ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] 

You step away from your computer, thoughts swirling around your head. Eridan couldn't possibly be a murderer, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, third chapter done. I'm sorry for being so very lazy on this. I really need something that can force me to actually write.
> 
> Anyway, I probably got Rose's character wrong, any feedback on the conversation will help a lot.


	4. The Shower Incident

After about 15 minutes of just thinking, something you almost never do, you decide that there really isn't anything you can do about Eridan. You're pretty sure it's a terrible idea to confront a murderer about his crimes by yourself, and if he's innocent, well that would just be rude. You're certainly not going to throw him out purely on suspicion, so guess you're gonna just sit around and wait to get murdered. Why does your life have to be so fucked up all the time?

You wander over to where Eridan is, once again, watching TV. The guy's been practically glued to it since he moved in. He's watching the news, again, and, as per usual, it's boring as fuck.

You lean on the back of the couch and tap his head, lightly, with your knuckles. “Try to be a little more reasonable next time, huh?” You tell him as you hand the adjusted shopping list to him.

He looks at it with a frown, “I thought I wwas bein reasonable?” You're pretty sure he didn't try. “Wwhatever, humans are wweird anywway,” he gives you a haughty look, as if daring you to say otherwise.

“Trust me, you haven't seen anything yet, we're a pretty fucked up race.” You give him a casual smile while also trying not to breathe because, dear god, he smells.

You point at him, “You smell like a goddamn sewer,” you hook your thumb towards the bathroom, “fix it.”

Eridans glares at you, arms crossed over his chest, and it just looks so ridiculous that you can't help but chuckle. “In case you didn't knoww,” he answers slowly, “I don't havve any other clothes.”

“I'll wash those for you, looks like they could use it, too.” You gesture at his clothes, which you're pretty sure he hasn't taken off for a while. “Just wear a towel or something till I get back,” there, problem solved.

He thinks about that for a second, then gets up. “Fine, just be careful wwith them,” he points a finger at you before entering the bathroom, “and absolutely no peakin.” Like you'd want to see a gross, naked, troll body. What does he even take you for?

A few minutes later, you're hauling a basket of dirty clothes to the laundromat. You can't remember the last time you did this, you’ve just been wearing whatever had the least noticeable smell… that was probably really stupid on your part.

There's probably some important instructions for how to clean Eridan’s cape, so you just shove it in the machine with everything else. Ain't nobody got time for fancy ass directions.

You put your headphones on, the universal sign of “Do not fucking disturb,” and sit on top of the washing machine. You get to thinking about the murders again, probably not a good idea. You're absolutely sure that Eridan has nothing to do with them, so who could it be? Maybe someone has a serious grudge against him, or someone who thinks they only belong to them, or the murders are completely unrelated.

You shake your head, you can't get anywhere with this without more info. You switch out the laundry and start wondering how Eridan is right now. He's fine by himself, right? Yeah, he's totally fine, definitely not fucked up in the head like you. You wonder if Eridan is done with his shower, then you start thinking about gross, naked troll body. What a nice, pleasant thought that totally doesn't make you sick to your stomach.

You eventually return home with the laundry, shoving the basket somewhere out of the way for now. You dig out Eridan’s clothes and head to the bathroom. “You done in there?” you shout as you knock on the door, no response, ‘kay. You kick open the door.

Everything stops for a second. Eridan was done with his shower. He’s standing in front of the mirror, a towel wrapped around his hair, only his hair.

The two of you stare at each other for a moment, and you risk a quick glance down. Oh god, oh god, terrible idea do something stop it now!

You throw his clothes at him and slam the door, “I’M SORRY!” you yell. To avoid any more awkwardness, you rush to your room and begin banging your head against your desk. Your life can not get any worse right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, then, this is probably poorly written. I wanted to get this done before the end of the year, so I felt a bit rushed.
> 
> I'm not entirely sure if my writing of this is any good. I just feel like I can't write these kinds of stories and I should try something different. But, I also don't want to leave this story unfinished for anyone who actually wants to read it.
> 
> I'm going to try my best to get a chapter done a week. I need deadlines to actually work on this, otherwise I just put it off and nothing gets done.


	5. Shopping Trip

A knocking on your bedroom door interrupts you from, absolutely nothing, to be honest. You've just been laying on your bed for the past hour or so, trying to think of anything but Eridan.

“Davve, are you alright?” and there he goes, rudely forcing you to acknowledge his existence.

“Yep,” you reply without getting up, “totally 100% fine.” You are definitely not fine for various reasons that you don't think about. But, you decide that you might as well take of this immediate, and easily solved, problem. You get up, shuffle over to the door, and slowly open it.

Eridan is, thankfully, wearing clothes now. He looks up at you with a small, concerned look on his face that quickly disappears. You never realized how short he is till now, you're easily a head taller than him. Maybe you're just taller than most people, though, you're not sure.

The two of you stare at each other awkwardly for a few seconds. You have no idea what to do. Probably has to do with the fact that you have almost never socialized with anyone properly.

“Um,” you scratch the back of your head, “sorry for barging in on you, in the bathroom.” You pause, unsure of what you're supposed to do.

Eridan shrugs, “It's fine, i’vve been naked in front of people plenty of times,” what, “during my FLARP campaigns,” what? “As a prisoner,” what?! “but I alwways got back at them wwith blood and fire.” … WHAT!?

You're pretty sure the troll was just talking to himself there and you weren't meant to hear or understand any of that. “So, we good then?” you attempt to steer the conversation away from weird troll shit.

Eridan’s head jerks up, “Wwhat? Oh yeah, wwe're fine, there's no problem.” He leans back a little, a slightly worried look on his face. At least, you're pretty sure that's what it is.

You lean against the doorframe, hands in your pockets “You got something to say, say it.”

He rubs the back of his head, “Can wwe,” he chews his lip, “can wwe go,” he takes a small step back, “shoppin?” He says it all very quietly, as if he doesn't really want you to hear.

You shrug, “Why not.” It's not like you have anything better to do. Eridan looks both surprised and ecstatic. “Come on,” you pull him with you to the front door, “let's get going.”

Eridan extricates himself before you leave the apartment, though. “Wwait, davve, I can't go right noww,” he explains, a worried look on his face, “I don't havve a sunsuit.” A what.

You give him a blank look, “You'll live,” you tell him and turn back to the door. But, Eridan grabs your arm before you can open the door.

“Davve, if I go out there, I wwill die.” he explains, sounding incredibly worried.

You raise an eyebrow. Really, trolls were vampires or some shit now? You sigh and look out the nearest window. Maybe the weather is really shitty right now and you can take Eridan to get some troll crap, or something.

The sky is filled with bleak, grey clouds. A cold wind whistles through the concrete jungle, a quiet harbinger of grand fury. In the distance, thunder rumbles. The vanguard to a fierce, unstoppable army. Sometimes you amaze yourself with just how awesome your thoughts can be. But yeah, a big storm’s coming.

Eridan looks out the window with you, he seems just a little surprised by the weather. It certainly didn't look like that earlier. Well, problem solved.

And another problem comes up, “I don’t have an umbrella,” you mutter. Or, if you do, it’s hidden so well that you just couldn’t find it… for two years. You start half-assedly looking around for it. Some of the best things you’ve done have been with half your ass, so you like to say. Eridan gives you an odd look as you just kick things around, shove things out of the way, shift the mess of the living room about two inches to the left, all with your hands in your pockets.

Eridan interrupts your not-really-searching, “Could it be in here?” he calls out, pointing to the only pile of shitty swords you bothered to keep. Call it sentiment, or just plain laziness, you never got around to getting rid of all of Dirk’s shitty swords.

You shuffle over to the pile and give it a nice kick, scattering swords and, oh, hey, an umbrella. It looks to be in good condition, no holes surprisingly, nothing bent or broken. Just one last thing to do: you pick up the umbrella and open it. A small knife falls out, narrowly missing your foot. The two of you stare at it for a moment, before you start laughing at the absurdity of it. Despite the fact that the knife was sharp enough, or heavy enough, to embed itself in the floor up to the hilt, the umbrella was completely undamaged. Eridan just sighs, grabs the umbrella, and walks out the door while you're still chuckling.

 

* * *

The two of you end up at the mall just as it starts to rain. While everyone else is rushing to get inside, you and Eridan just casually stroll across the parking lot. The umbrella is just big enough to mostly cover both of you, which you’re totally fine with. Eridan seems a bit nervous, sneaking quick glances all around him. It looks like he's trying to keep everyone in his sight. He tries to huddle closer to you, but you make sure to keep an arm's length away, don't want this to get weird. 

There’s a lot more people inside than you had expected. This isn’t a problem, though. You have plenty of experience with navigating through crowds. You also happen to know this place like the back of your hand, so you say. You take a quick glance at the scars there… yep, they’re still not gone. You immediately push all of those thoughts out of your mind. “So, where’re we going?” you ask Eridan.

His head snaps to face you, “Wwhat? Oh, yes, umm…” he stammers out. You’re not entirely sure, but it seems like the troll is distracted by something. “I, I guess wwe could,” he mutters, almost too soft to hear, “clothes?” He turns to you, spreading his hands slightly.

“Sure,” you reply as you fold up the umbrella and begin dragging Eridan through the crowd. People give you weird looks, but you’re used to it. Eridan, however, doesn’t seem quite so comfortable as he presses close to you. Not much you can do about it in the press of bodies. It takes almost ten minutes to reach the clothing store, partly due to the fact that you’ve never been there. But once you do reach it Eridan is lost in the clothes almost immediately, quite literally, in fact.

You decide to just wander around for a while. He’ll be fine, he’s an adult and a troll. He’s probably faced a lot worse than rabid deal hunters. You chuckle a bit at the thought of Eridan fighting with middle aged women over some tacky ass headwear, or some shit like that. You wonder if that sword store Dirk went to all the time is still here.

 

* * *

An hour later, and with a few new shitty swords, you end up in the food court looking for Eridan. You spot him at the entrance leading to the clothing stores. He gives you a little smile as you saunter up next to him. He’s holding three large bags filled with clothes. “You spent all the money I gave you, didn’t you?” you question him.

His smile turns sheepish as he looks down at his purchases, “Maybe,” he replies, shifting his bags, “wwhat are wwe doin’ noww?”

“Well that’s pretty obvious,” you reply, sweeping your hand across the food court, “we eat.” You’re not feeling particularly picky, so you’ll just let Eridan decide.

After thinking for a moment, he heads towards a chinese restaurant. Not your favorite, but you’ll eat it. As the two of you wait in line, you notice that most people are either sneaking quick glances at the two of you, or pointedly ignoring you. You’re pretty sure it has to do with Eridan, as trolls aren’t exactly a common site around here. Still, it is pretty rude.

You two eventually end up front, ready to order. You’re not one of those people who lose all function of speech when they get there, that’s just stupid. The girl at the register looks up with a large smile plastered on her face, which quickly fades when she notices Eridan. “I’m sorry sir, but,” she takes a breath, “we’re not allowed to sell to trolls.” She turns to you, “I hope you understand, it’s company policy, I could lose my job.”

Well, that was unexpected, and a bit rude. You take Eridan away from there without saying a word. You decide that the pizza place is a better bet, maybe. But, when you get there, things don’t go so well.

“We don’t serve trolls here,” the large man at the counter tells you, “never have, never will.” He turns away from the two of you to address another customer. What the fuck is going on here?

You two go back to your table. Eridan doesn’t say anything as he sits down, just looking down with a furrowed brow. “I’m just gonna get some burgers or something, alright?” you tell him. He doesn’t respond. It takes you several minutes to get the food. You don’t say anything more than necessary. You’re feeling pretty bad right now, you honestly had no idea that people would refuse to serve trolls. Isn’t that, like, racism? Is it still racism if it’s against literal aliens?

Eridan is looking a little better when you return. He accepts the bag you hand him and begins rummaging around in it. He frowns at the burger he unwraps, “Not evven any grub sauce,” he proclaims, taking a large bite, “and you call this food.”

You give him a look, “Grub sauce?” you ask as you take out your own burger.

“Yeah, you knoww,” he responds, “sauce, made from grubs.” He takes another bite of his burger, “Wwe use it on evverythin’.”

“Seriously?” you take a sip of cola, “that’s fucking gross, dude.”

Eridan huffed, “Wwell you’vve got that gross egg based shit.”

“Shut up, mayonnaise is awesome.” or so some people think.

You two continue shooting back and forth with various condiments that your respective species have made. You’re starting to feel a lot better, maybe this day won’t end all that badly.

“Hey, troll!” someone yells. Eridan turns to see who spoke up when a take out bag hits him right in the face. “We don’t want you here!”

“Wwhat?” he starts to stand, but more people begin shouting.

“Get out of here!”

“Go back to where you came from!”

Eridan stands up and you follow suit. You put a hand on his shoulder, “Let’s get out of here,” you try to calmly pull him towards the exit. He shakes your hand off and turns to face the forming crowd.

“I’m not goin’ anywwhere!” he yells back at the crowd. They ignore him and continue throwing insults and swears at him, advancing on him the whole time. You grab his arm and start dragging him away. He keeps his eyes on the approaching crowd.

You’re almost at the doors when someone throws a soda bottle at him. That’s what pushes him over the edge.

Eridan bursts free from your grip and punches the first person he comes to in the face.

“NO!” you yell as the crowd rises in volume. You grip his shoulders as tightly as you can and pull him, fighting you the whole way, out of the mall.

You somehow manage to get him all the way home without suffering any physical harm. He just seethes the entire way. You watch as he stomps into his room, slamming the door closed behind him. You heave a deep sigh, this day had not gone very well. You slump down in front of your computer. You’re definitely not going to get any sleep tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I finally got this finished. I'm so very sorry that this took so long to get done. I'm going to try and get a chapter done every other Sunday.
> 
> In other news, if you like more fantasy-esque stories, check out my brother's story here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/8130019/chapters/18636841  
> Give him some love and also remind him to keep working on it!
> 
> That's all for now, have a great day and I'll hopefully see you soon!


	6. Long Night

You don’t go to bed that night. Which, honestly, is pretty normal for you. Sleep is an elusive beast that must be hunted down and tamed before it can be enjoyed. Or, maybe you just hate what sleep offers you most of the time. Either way, you’re not sleeping. Instead, you’re just bullshitting around on your computer. You should probably be looking up information on trolls, but you’re just looking at some particularly dank memes. You don’t like any of them.

You heave a huge yawn. You squint at the time on your computer, it’s 2:15. You should really get to sleep, but there lies things you don’t want to think about. You check pesterchum real quick. Seems like someone wants to talk to you.

gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG]

GG: dave!

GG: davey boy!

GG: dave you there?!

TG: yo what up

GG: not much, sup with you? :P

TG: shits been pretty crazy lately

GG: oh! i forgot, you have a new roommate!

GG: whats his name?

TG: eridan, you know, the troll?

GG: oh! i dont know him very well

GG: i think we only talked once?

TG: yeah hes pretty cool sometimes

TG: the rest of the time hes a huge nerd

GG: certainly not as big a nerd as john, though? :)

TG: i don’t think anyone can be as big a nerd as john

TG: guys like the king of the nerds

GG: all hail the king! :D

TG: fraid i cant do that

TG: im a rebel you see

TG: gotta bring about the republic of cool

GG: ill do everything in my power to stop you!

GG: long live the nerd kingdom!

GG: heh heh :)

TG: heh

TG: all right you must have something important to tell me

GG: nope!

GG: just saw that you were online and wanted to talk to you!

GG: is there anything youd like to talk about?

TG: hmm…

You lean back in your chair, thinking about how to respond. On the one hand, you’d rather not talk to her because you’ve made some pretty shitty decisions before. You didn’t talk to her for a few years because you thought she wouldn’t want to hear from you. But, on the other hand, she’s actually talking to you, and she doesn’t seem mad or anything. She just seems like normal. You decide to take a chance.

TG: yeah today has been pretty interesting

GG: oh? :?

TG: so i went to the mall with eridan and it turns out that people are huge dicks

GG: oh no! D:

GG: what happened?

TG: yeah

TG: we were having dinner and suddenly everyone started being incredibly racist

TG: and then eridan started swinging at them

TG: it was all i could do to get him home

TG: like, i can understand why he got so mad but

TG: he just seemed really out of sorts

TG: nothing like he was before

GG: sounds pretty serious :(

GG: but i dont know what to tell you

GG: i think rose might know more about this

TG: sigh…

GG: whats wrong?

TG: i just dont really like talking to her

GG: well you should!

GG: shes not as bad as you think!

TG: alright

TG: ill think about it

GG: okay

GG: you should probably get some sleep!

TG: good night

GG: night!

gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG]

You spend a good fifteen minutes staring at your computer screen. You don’t quite understand how someone can tolerate, let alone like, you. But then again, Jade has always been rather strange. Rose on the other hand, well you and her had never really stopped talking to each other. You’re not sure what your relationship to each other is, certainly not friends, right? Of course, she’s always been willing to listen to you when you needed it.

turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT]

TG: so

TG: you awake

TG: probably not

TG: well

TG: if you get a chance i need some info on highbloods

TG: eridan went a bit crazy and id like to know why

TG: youre not gonna read any of this for a while

TG: fuck

TG: this was a waste of time

TT: I’m here.

TG: oh shit

TG: what are you doing up so late

TT: Kanaya is rather sick and requires attention right now.

TG: you should probably get back to her then

TT: She’s sleeping right now, but she can wake at any moment.

TT: This night has been rather stressful.

TG: you doing all right

TT: I am surviving off the glorious wonder that is coffee.

TG: the most beautiful of inventions

TT: As to your query: I have several resources available.

TT: What specifically do you want to know?

TG: shit

TG: everything i guess

TT: Then I will provide the links to several reputable sites that should provide what you need.

TT: I need to leave, though.

TT: I just heard Kanya vomit quite loudly.

TG: aw shit

TG: well thanks and good luck with your sick girlfriend

TT: Of course, and good luck with your mildly insane boyfriend.

tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG]

TG: wait

TG: what

  

True to Rose Lalonde fashion, the websites she gave are long, complicated and boring. You barely get past the first few sentences of the first site before giving up. You didn’t learn anything. You think that it may have had to do with the differences between human and troll blood, but you couldn’t give less of a shit if you tried. You rub your eyes, sighing deeply. You have no idea what time it is and you don’t care right now. You’re probably just going to try and figure out what’s going on with Eridan on your own. Not like that’s any different from the rest of your life.

A knock on your door interrupts your thoughts. “Davve, you awwake?” Eridan calls out, just barely loud enough to be heard.

You sit up straight, adjusting your sunglasses. “Yeah,” you answer.

The door opened slowly. He stood in the doorway for a few moments, still in the clothes he was wearing earlier. He shifts about uneasily, rubbing his arms. Eventually he takes a deep breath, and takes one step into the room.

“What’s up?” you ask without moving from the chair.

Eridan shuffles a little. He coughs and looks away from you. “‘M sorry,” he mutters.

“What?” you didn’t quite catch that.

“I’m sorry, for, earlier.” he kicks his leg a little, clearly uncomfortable.

You wave your hand, “No big deal,”

He turns to you, arms dropping. “But it is a big deal!” he snaps, “I can’t afford to do that!”

“Excuse me?” you ask.

“I’m not right, Davve!” he replies as he begins pacing. “I shouldn’t be vviolent, but, I just,” he makes a twisting motion with his hands, “I can’t help it!”

You stand up, “Woah, is everything alright?”

He whirls to face you, “NO!” he roars, “NOTHIN’ IS RIGHT WWITH ME!” He reaches his hands up to his head, “I’M A FUCKIN’ MURDEROUS FREAK!” He clutches his scalp with sharp nails, you can see a little bit of blood.

You’re quick to reach over and grab his arms, slowly removing them from his head. He stands there shaking, each breath a wheezing gasp. “Now listen here,” you say quietly, “you’re not a freak, you’re a person, and that’s all that matters.” You’re pretty much just repeating Rose during your, worse, time. You don’t know if it will work.

Slowly, Eridan’s breathing becomes more normal. He suddenly shifts forward into you, and you jerk back in surprise. He steps back into the doorway, looking at you with an odd expression.

You clear your throat, “Um, you should, probably,” you rub the back of your head, “get some sleep. We’ll talk about this in the morning.”

He nods hesitantly and shuffles away. You close the door after him, sighing as you lean your head against it. You're not cut out for this. You can’t help people on your own. You’ll most likely just end up making things worse, like with John. You don’t deserve friends, you’re just way more trouble than it’s worth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once more, I am really late in getting this chapter out and I feel awful about it.
> 
> Anyway, some more pesterlogs, let me know if some characters are off or whatever.
> 
> I'll try my best to get the next chapter up in a timely manner.


	7. Another Visitor

Somehow you manage to get at least one and a half hours of sleep. You’re not sure how this freak accident happened. Whatever, not much different from most days. Really, the only way you’ve been able to survive so long on little sleep is through the miracle of coffee.

You’re currently making some coffee for yourself and Eridan. Turns out that trolls don’t actually have coffee. The closest thing they have to it is sugary energy drinks, and those are absolutely disgusting. You don’t have any coffee beans or whatever. You just buy the cheap, pre made crap. So long as it does it’s job, you can’t complain. You eventually get two mugs of steaming hot joe on the counter. You put out some sugar and creamer for Eridan, since you get the feeling that he likes very sweet things.

Eridan stares at his mug, takes a sip, and immediately grimaces. He starts slowly putting sugar and cream into it, taking a sip each time he adds something. You just chug like a third of your mug straight. Hurts like hell and tastes like shit, but you can’t be bothered to do anything more right now. You’re pretty sure Eridan’s cup is at least half sugar before he starts drinking.

He pauses between sips, “Davve, this is shit.” he accuses.

“Yes,” you reply.

“Wwhy did you think I wwould like it?”

“I didn’t”

He frowns at the mug in his hand, and the two of you drink your coffee in silence for a few minutes. You’re eventually pulled out of your meaningless thoughts by a knock on the door. You’re pretty sure there is no one who would actually like to meet you in person, but hey, it could be some kids playing a prank or something.

The first thing you notice when you open the door is a pair of very tall troll horns. They add at least an extra half foot of height, which ends up just below the top of your head. You look down to see a troll with the longest, curliest hair you have ever seen.

“Hi! I’m Feferi!” she greets in an incredibly happy voice. You have no idea how anyone can be so happy. “Is Eridan here?”

You lean on the doorframe, “And why are you looking for him?” You somewhat remember maybe reading about ‘worthless’ trolls being culled, or some shit like that. You’re pretty sure no one cares about Eridan, but you’re not willing to take any chances. Even though this troll in front of you looks more likely to help than hurt him.

Just then, Eridan appears behind you. “Fef!?” he shouts from right behind you. You absolutely did not jump a little bit and almost fall over. How can that guy be so quiet?

“EEEEEEEEERIDAN! Glub glub glub glub glub!” the stranger screams and tackles Eridan to the ground. It’s, sickeningly cute. Wait, glub?

“F-fef, ww-wwhat are you doin’ here?” Eridan stammers out from the floor.

She giggles, still on top of Eridan, “Silly, you left your stuff in my hive!” Wait, Eridan has stuff?

Sure enough, there’s a large suitcase and what looks like a guitar case in the hallway. Is that Feferi’s, or does Eridan actually know how to play the guitar? It’s probably Eridan’s, you learn new things about him every day.

Feferi jumps up and bounces back out the door, picking up the guitar case. You pick up the suitcase and it’s, lighter, than you expected. Of course, you didn’t really expect any of this to happen.

You deposit the baggage in front of Eridan, who’s still lying on the floor, “Here’s your shit.” You are the epitome of politeness.

Eridan gets up and opens up the suitcase, looking through the contents for a couple seconds before snapping it shut. He looks at Feferi, “Thank you, really,” he says as he stands in front of Feferi.

She smiles and hugs him, “Of course!” she replies, “We’re friends, right?”

He shrugs, seeming uncomfortable with the idea. “Are wwe?” he asks. You’d say something, but you’re not even sure what real friends you have.

“We are, silly!” Feferi says, hugging him even tighter.

He seems a little uncomfortable, but he hugs her back after a few seconds. The moment is interrupted by a buzzing sound and Feferi extricates herself to pull out a, clam. She looks at it for a second before looking at Eridan, “Sorry, I’ve gotta go, but it was nice to see you again!”

She gives you a quick hug as she heads out, “Thanks for taking care of him.” she says.

“No problem,” you give her a thumbs up as she enters the hallway.

“Keep in touch!” she calls out before disappearing around the corner.

You lean over to Eridan, “So, that your girlfriend or some shit?” You’re actually a little curious.

He shoves your shoulder and turns away, “Shut up, that wwas swweeps ago and I wwas a stupid little wwiggler.” He picks up the suitcase and walks to his room, “Should’vve realised no one wwould’vve evver wwanted to be my matesprit, or anythin else.”

Okay, you didn’t understand any of that. You were just trying to make a joke, but you clearly messed it up. You sigh and head back to your room. Maybe you could work on some music, or another SB&HJ comic. You have no idea.

* * *

You’ve been staring at your computer for almost three hours now. You have gotten nothing done in that time. You didn’t even turn on the computer. You’d like to say that you spent the time thinking, but your thoughts have been so frantic and disjointed that none of them stayed put for more than a few seconds.

You heave a sigh and stand. Your life was pretty easy to understand before Eridan came by. Now you understand exactly nothing. It’s time to change that.

You stop in front of the door to his room. You swear you can hear, a guitar? An off key, out of tune guitar. You push open the door and just, stop. Eridan is sitting in the middle of the floor holding the guitar Feferi gave him. He plucks a few notes before grimacing and picking a sheet in front of him. He frowns at it.

You sigh as you walk over to him. He looks up in surprise as you grab the guitar out of his hands and drag your thumb across the strings. Yikes, that is definitely not what a guitar is supposed to sound like. Eridan leans back as you start tuning the instrument. This gives you a chance to properly appreciate the guitar, and it is certainly a very interesting instrument. It has the basic shape of a guitar, but it’s a sort of pinkish-purple in color and almost looks to be made out of a single piece of, something. You’re pretty sure it’s not wood. Two large, jagged lines are on the exact center of the body, they match the symbol on Eridan’s shirt. You wonder what the significance is, for about two seconds. All of your shirts have a record somewhere on them, why should this be strange?

You eventually hand it back to Eridan. He plays a few notes and his eyes widen slightly at the change in sound. “Thank you? I guess.” he says.

“Don’t tell me you don’t actually know how to tune an instrument,” you reply.

“Not by ear, no,” he says slowly, “and wwhy should it matter to you?”

You shrug, “I’m a big fan of music, and if you’re gonna play you should play right or I’d have to kill you.” You look at him with the flattest expression you can muster.

He locks his gaze with yours and plays several out of tune notes.

The two of you stay there for several seconds before you both start laughing. You sit down next to him, “I didn’t know you could play,” you say.

He looks back at the sheet music and begins going over the fingerings, “Just one of the things I tried to get people to like me.” He pauses, “Nothing really worked.” You don’t know how to respond to that.

You carefully take out your phone and start recording as Eridan plays. You don’t recognize the song. It has a soft, almost melancholy, feel, with occasional bits of something, more. You’re not sure how to describe it. You’re definitely going to listen to it multiple times in order to catch all of the subtle theme and whatever. But for now, you’re fine with just sitting here and listening to Eridan play surprisingly well.

You feel that, despite the fact that life has been far more confusing lately, you just might be able to make this work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got this done. I'm so sorry this took so long.
> 
> On a slightly different note: I have no idea how trolls would exist here, so if anyone has any ideas I'd be happy to hear them.


	8. Sorry about this

I am so very sorry for the lack of updates on this. I just lost interest in it, and I didn't really know where I was going with this. I hope you can understand that I didn't want to end it so abruptly, but I just cannot get the motivation to keep working on it. I am truly grateful to everyone who read this and commented and waited so patiently. I'm sorry. If someone else would like to pick this up, by all means go ahead. In fact, I encourage it. I hate seeing fics that have just ended with no explanation. I'm going to be working on other things now, and I hope they turn out better than this. Have a great day and a wonderful life.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, first story here! Any tips for me will be much appreciated. Any way, I have the big events for this story planned out but, I would like some minor things to spread things out a bit. If you have any ideas, tell me!
> 
> And please try and enjoy this attempt at feels!


End file.
